The original Moto X signaled a major design shift for Motorola, and the company has done an admirable job keeping the device updated to the latest versions of Android so far. The Moto X 2013 is now seeing its first Android 5.1 updates, specifically for the unlocked retail models in the United States and Brazil plus the Rogers carrier version sold in Canada, according to Motorola manager David Schuster. This comes after a few weeks of soak tests.

Motorola announced the Android 5.1 update for both Moto X devices a few weeks ago, but it started out as a very slow soak test. Motorola's David Schuster says that today that test is expanding to more countries with a full release coming as soon as next week.

The Atrix HD came out in 2012, right before Motorola's Google-fueled turnaround. That's why it was surprising when Motorola put this phone on the KitKat update list in late 2013. That update never came through, leaving the device on Android 4.1.1, but Motorola is offering a deal on a new Moto X to make up for that.

Motorola hasn't exactly been hitting it out of the park with cameras as of late. The 2014 Moto X offered a minor improvement over the 2013 model, but it's still put to shame by other flagships. At least the camera app is in the Play Store so it can be updated with new features, just like it is today.

Motorola has a mixed record when it comes to device updates. The first-gen Moto X made the jump from Jelly Bean to KitKat quite smoothly, but Lollipop has proven to be more of a challenge. Motorola recently announced the 2013 Moto X would go straight to Android 5.1, but when? Soon, according to Motorola's David Schuster.

The Moto X line is a great destination for Nexus lovers who tire of feeling like beta testers for Google, but the transition does come at the expense of timely updates (not that all Nexus devices are speedy). Fortunately Motorola remains committed to getting its devices up to date, and it looks like Android 5.1 may soon come to both iterations of the Moto X.

If you're going to do any serious modding on your Android smartphone, your first step is going to be unlocking the bootloader. This is a simple procedure on Nexus devices and a few other handsets, but many of the top OEMs have added security measures to prevent regular users from mucking about with their stock software. For these devices, there's a tool called Sunshine by recognized developers Justin Case (jcase), beaups, and friends.

Motorola bundles a number of custom apps with its devices these days, including a gallery app with some handy features. This app has gotten an update through the Play Store that adds a few new features, improves some others, and includes support for more devices.

Motorola gained a lot of good will by updating its latter phones to the newest version of Android, starting with the Moto X. Even carrier-customized versions of that phone tended to get new incremental updates to KitKat long before other manufacturers' devices. But for some reason, the 2013 Moto X has lagged far behind for updates to Lollipop. Now, five months after Android 5.0 first started rolling out to Nexus devices, the OG Moto X is finally getting its Lollipop update.